Despite being humbled by Ulsan Hyundai in their Asian Champions League debut on Wednesday night, Western Sydney Wanderers defender Matthew Spiranovic is confident it won't derail their A-League campaign.

The Wanderers jumped away to a dream start when Brendon Santalab struck in the opening minute but were then overshadowed by a sublime performance from the 2012 ACL champions, who replied with three unanswered goals.

While victory to the Koreans greatly hampers the Wanderers' chances of progressing to the round of 16, Spiranovic is adamant the defeat won't dampen the mood for Sunday's A-League clash against a struggling Newcastle at Pirtek Stadium.

"We're very focused on what we need to do in both competitions and I don't think we'll be thrown off our game at all," Spiranovic said. "It's a home game and whenever we're at home we nearly always perform well in front of our fans. Newcastle probably aren't at their best, we're still second and going along nicely. We're in a good position and I see no reason we can't win again."

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The Wanderers will be looking for some revenge on the Jets from their last encounter in Newcastle, when an Adam Taggart goal in injury time clinched a 2-2 draw after the visitors had seemingly done enough for victory. Hopes of a result this weekend were dealt a blow on Thursday afternoon when gun striker Tomi Juric was ruled out of the contest after failing to overcome a groin strain.

While the K-League side was widely acknowledged as vastly superior on the night, Spiranovic isn't convinced the opposition is invincible.

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"The performance wasn't bad from us. The most frustrating thing is that people will see the 3-1 score line and will think it was an easy victory for Ulsan but it's not true," he said. "It was a very disappointed dressing room because we like to think the way play is generally reflected in the final score and perhaps it wasn't this time."

Tough initiation: Rafinha of Ulsan Hyandai competes with Western Sydney's Matthew Spiranovic during the Asian Champions League match at Parramatta. Photo: Getty Images

"It was a real learning curve. We made some uncharacteristic errors and, at this level, you get punished for them and with the smaller details, we simply have to get better," he said. "Their goals came from a few simple balls that we'd normally deal with but for some reason we didn't. In saying that, we can take a lot of confidence from the game. We had plenty of the ball and created some chances and were just undone with our lapses. I reckon we can definitely get a result against them away."

Failure to win at home leaves the Wanderers facing heightened pressure for a result in their next ACL match, away to Chinese side Guizhou Renhe on March 12. "The first match of these group stages in very important and because we've lost ours, we know we're going to have to make it up on the road somewhere," Spiranovic said. "It definitely gets a little bit harder from here but there's a lot of football to be played and our heads will never drop."

Spiranovic's week's wasn't all bad with the 25-year old defender recalled to the Socceroos by coach Ange Postecoglou for the friendly against Ecuador in London. "I'm rapt. It's always an honour to be picked, especially in the final game before the selection for the World Cup," he said. "It's a great opportunity for all the boys to impress Ange and I'm really keen to show what I can do."

While his talent could have landed a contract anywhere in the world – he was even linked with Liverpool last season – Spiranovic says returning to Australia has been entirely vindicated. "For me it was the right decision and I had a lot of confidence coming here in the first place because the club's structure is excellent, with top coaching staff," he said. "It's great to be playing regular football and, most importantly, I'm fully fit now. It's all going the right way and it would be a dream come true if I can make it on that plane to Rio."